Non-flat solar roof tiles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10454409-B2
Application number	US-201815887913-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 2, 2018
Priority date	Feb 2, 2018
Publication date	Oct 22, 2019
Grant date	Oct 22, 2019

Abstract

One embodiment can provide a non-flat photovoltaic roof tile. The non-flat photovoltaic roof tile can include a transparent front cover, a back cover, and a plurality of Si-based photovoltaic structures. The transparent front cover can include a first side and a second side, with the first side comprising at least one non-flat portion and the second side comprising a plurality of flat facets. The flat facets are arranged to follow the contour of the at least one non-flat portion. A respective Si-based photovoltaic structure is positioned between a flat facet of the transparent front cover and the back cover.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A non-flat photovoltaic roof tile, comprising:
a transparent front cover having a first surface and a second surface, wherein the first surface comprises at least one portion that is convexly curved, wherein the second surface comprises a plurality of flat facets, and wherein the flat facets are arranged to follow the contour of the at least one convexly curved portion of the first surface;
a back cover; and
a plurality of Si-based photovoltaic structures, wherein a respective Si-based photovoltaic structure is positioned between a flat facet of the transparent front cover and the back cover.

2. The non-flat photovoltaic roof tile of claim 1 , wherein the transparent front cover comprises glass.

3. The non-flat photovoltaic roof tile of claim 1 , wherein the back cover comprises:
a backsheet; or
a rigid back cover comprising a second set of flat facets.

4. The non-flat photovoltaic roof tile of claim 1 , wherein adjacent photovoltaic structures positioned on a same flat facet are electrically coupled to each other in series.

5. The non-flat photovoltaic roof tile of claim 4 , wherein the adjacent photovoltaic structures positioned on the same flat facet are coupled in such a way that a first edge busbar positioned on a first photovoltaic structure overlaps a second edge busbar positioned on a second photovoltaic structure.

6. The non-flat photovoltaic roof tile of claim 1 , wherein adjacent photovoltaic structures positioned on different flat facets are electrically coupled to each other in parallel.

7. The non-flat photovoltaic roof tile of claim 1 , wherein a respective photovoltaic structure comprises a strip that is ⅓ of a 6-inch by 6-inch square solar cell.

8. The non-flat photovoltaic roof tile of claim 1 , wherein the transparent front cover has a shape similar to that of a conventional roof tile, and wherein the at least one convexly curved portion comprises a partial-cylindrical surface.

9. The non-flat photovoltaic roof tile of claim 1 , further comprising at least a pair of external electrical connectors for electrical coupling with adjacent roof tiles.

10. The non-flat photovoltaic roof tile of claim 9 , wherein the adjacent roof tiles are arranged side by side along a latitudinal axis of the convexly curved portion, and where the external electrical connectors are configured to couple the adjacent roof tiles in parallel.

11. The non-flat photovoltaic roof tile of claim 9 , wherein the adjacent roof tiles are arranged up and down along a longitudinal axis of the convexly curved portion, and where the external electrical connectors are configured to couple the adjacent roof tiles in series.

12. The non-flat photovoltaic roof tile of claim 1 , wherein the at least one convexly curved portion and the flat facets are arranged in such a way that an edge of the at least one convexly curved portion extends beyond an edge of the flat facets to conceal the flat facets from a side view.

13. The non-flat photovoltaic roof tile of claim 12 , wherein a respective flat facet includes a flat bottom surface of a pocket formed on the second surface of the non-flat photovoltaic roof tile.

Assignees

• Tesla Inc

Inventors

• De Vries Nicholas G J
• Yang Bobby

Classifications

• H02S20/25 Primary

  Roof tile elements · CPC title

• H02S40/36

  characterised by special electrical interconnection means between two or more PV modules, e.g. electrical module-to-module connection · CPC title

• H01L31/0504

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/0488

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L31/049

  Electricity · mapped topic